Kwame brown still playing right? I'm not looking long term for Morris cause I don't know what a player will do in the future but right now he should be getting the back up PG minutes and not Blake

He's still playing because he's one of the better post defenders in the league. Hes a serviceable back up center. Again it's an example of what you expect out of the player. If you expect Kwame to be a player who averages 10/10, he's going to be a disappointment.

When Blake gets back, he's going to get a shot at the back up minutes. That's the way it goes. There's a chance this offense fits Blake better since its more free flowing and not restricted to sets. You're going to assume he's not going to do much more offensively, but this offense is tailored for shooters so that's why he's going to get a shot. In the few games he played this year, he's shot 40% from three, so we'll see how he adjusts now.

Now what can possibly happen as well is Morris getting back up minutes with Blake getting some back up 2 minutes to put pressure on Meeks.

Regardless though, I think before the deadline Blake will be traded. Morris making a case right now very early in the season but he needs to stay consistent. That's the biggest issue with young players.

This really should end the debate of who the best Defender is at the 1.

"According to Synergy Sports Technology, on 55 possessions of defense this season Morris has done well in defending isolation plays and pick-and-roll plays by allowing zero percent of iso shots to go in and only 30.8 percent of pick-and-rolls to score. Defending spot-up and off the ball plays are mediocre for Morris. He continues to struggle to defend off the screen shots, allowing 71.4 percent of those shots to convert. Overall, Morris’ defense has only allowed 36.4 percent of shots to score." Quoted from http://www.lakersnat...ake/2012/11/19/

This really should end the debate of who the best Defender is at the 1.

"According to Synergy Sports Technology, on 55 possessions of defense this season Morris has done well in defending isolation plays and pick-and-roll plays by allowing zero percent of iso shots to go in and only 30.8 percent of pick-and-rolls to score. Defending spot-up and off the ball plays are mediocre for Morris. He continues to struggle to defend off the screen shots, allowing 71.4 percent of those shots to convert. Overall, Morris’ defense has only allowed 36.4 percent of shots to score." Quoted from http://www.lakersnat...ake/2012/11/19/

Edited to add.

If he ever learns how to get over a screen he will be a monster on D.

I'll never stick up for Nash because his defense is almost as bad as Calderon's...but understand the article. ISO's are the least effective plays in basketball if you aren't Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or Kevin Durant...so FG% will be much, much lower...and as far as the P&R goes, we now have Dwight...so players are either going to see Dwight at the rim, or take a jumper out of it. P&R defense, by backcourt players that have defensive anchors, is never interpreted correctly.

If we still had Drew, I would be curious...because Drew was horrible defending the P&R (and so was Shaq, and every big we've ever had since Kareem, it seems).

I'd like to know just how many ISO plays Morris has defended, and who was in the ISO. How many of those were CP3? That's my question. If a lot of them came from someone like Aaron Brooks (who has been [expletive] all season long, simply put), then there's no reason to look at that.

Like I said in another topic, though...don't expect Morris' defense to give him the green light to take over the backup role. Morris probably has a decent 3PT percentage (don't quote me on that, I'm just guessing because he has had a LOT of wide-open threes), but Steve Blake still knows how to space the floor better, and D'Antoni has a sweet spot for floor-spacers.

Two games, though. Morris has been throwing assists. Kind of depends on how Mike wants us to play. If he wants to play through Gasol when the second unit is on the floor, I don't think Morris will get the nod, because of the floor spacing. If he wants it to be Dwight, maybe Morris gets it, since Dwight is more likely to benefit from a penetrating PG (because, quite frankly, you aren't going to see Gasol sliding to the rim and catching oops, even if he was in his prime).

And just nit-picking, like I always do...Morris will be a monster on defense if he plays it like CP3 or Rondo, and he'll never be on that level. Great defenders. He can be a good defensive player, like Duhon was in his prime (and that's stretching it, because Duhon earned starting roles because of his defense during his first three years in Chicago + how good he was, defensively, at Duke), but if Morris will be featured for anything in his career, it will be for his slashing, if he can ever stack up a half a season (at least) where he plays under control and shows promise as a solid backup.

His defense will stand out when he's playing alongside a 39-year old Nash, though. Blake still has a better DRtg (defensive rating) as of right now (his 104 vs. Morris' 108), but I'm going to give Morris the benefit of the doubt because he's holding his man to a lesser FG% (slightly).

I won't say much about Synergy sports, though. They say they are testing 55 possessions of defense. Morris has started three games, played in eight. That's MUCH MORE than 55 possessions of defense. Houston shot the ball 90 times last night, and there's more to defense than just defending the shot.

Watching the game right now, Deron Williams is lucky he is getting superstar calls. Darius Morris didn't touch him on any one of his shots that he missed, and got rammed by Kris Humphries with a no-call. I feel sorry for young players in the league guarding superstars.

To be honest there was nothing Morris could do against Deron but try to be more disciplined..... He tried his best and took on the challenge with no fear.... I like the heart but he just has to play better defense but he did give a good effort though I'm just mad D'antoni played Duhon more than Morris ....

you could see how mature darius is playing with the ball. tonight he had alot of calls thats should have been no calls and thats why we seen alot of duhon. I am not a fan of duhon and i cringe everytime hes on the floor. i hope steve comes back soon. so we can really see what our team is capable of.

To be honest there was nothing Morris could do against Deron but try to be more disciplined..... He tried his best and took on the challenge with no fear.... I like the heart but he just has to play better defense but he did give a good effort though I'm just mad D'antoni played Duhon more than Morris ....

Because WIlliams was bullying Morris and getting foul calls. Duhon knows how to handle Deron's physicality a little better and it showed.

I know you want to support Morris as much as possible, and even I think he has played good these last couple of games (well, the two before tonight), but you can't get away with saying that Duhon can't defend Williams better. Williams can't post Duhon up. That has been his defensive specialty since he played in Chicago, and right now, he's also still the higher IQ defensive player at the point (highest at that position on our team).

Morris can defend Aaron Brooks and his speed, probably even sticking with Westbrook better, but guards like D-Will will eat him alive, and ultimately (as you saw tonight), wear him down on the offensive end as well.

I know you want to support Morris as much as possible, and even I think he has played good these last couple of games (well, the two before tonight), but you can't get away with saying that Duhon can't defend Williams better. Williams can't post Duhon up. That has been his defensive specialty since he played in Chicago, and right now, he's also still the higher IQ defensive player at the point (highest at that position on our team).

Morris can defend Aaron Brooks and his speed, probably even sticking with Westbrook better, but guards like D-Will will eat him alive, and ultimately (as you saw tonight), wear him down on the offensive end as well.

LMAO are you serious... I don't think Duhon made any difference by guarding Williams the only thing he did different was not pressure him all the way up the court and Williams was still able to get all of his shot and get to where he wanted...

Now Morris could have done better if he had Duhons experience but I think this is a game where Morris learns that you can't pressure guards like Williams in the back court and not expect him to try to blow by u and draw the foul.... What Morris is missing is discipline on defense .......his energy is there but it takes more than energy to be a great defender....

Right now Morris is learning on the fly and he is improving game by game he could have ended with 8 or 9 if they didn't call offensive foul on Dwight for the screen he tried to set for Morris or the play where Gasol kicked it out to him but Gasol stepped out of bounds.... I think he just had bad luck tonight to be honest

The funny thing is you can tell how Morris plays he truly wants to be good and be on an elite level PG ,but idk if he has the talent to be that good... AT THIS POINT all I can see him doing is maybe 15ppg and 6assits

LMAO are you serious... I don't think Duhon made any difference by guarding Williams the only thing he did different was not pressure him all the way up the court and Williams was still able to get all of his shot and get to where he wanted...

Uh...okay.

The funny thing is you can tell how Morris plays he truly wants to be good and be on an elite level PG ,but idk if he has the talent to be that good... AT THIS POINT all I can see him doing is maybe 15ppg and 6assits

Why must we argue after every game. Seriously, I'm probably a bigger fan of Morris than CJ is, but I say when he makes mistakes, or should do better in a way. Deron kept posting Morris up, so that's why Deron drew the fouls. He just gotta put his hands straight up in that position because there's nothing else you can do. You don't do that, Deron is gonna get those superstar calls.

Why must we argue after every game. Seriously, I'm probably a bigger fan of Morris than CJ is, but I say when he makes mistakes, or should do better in a way. Deron kept posting Morris up, so that's why Deron drew the fouls. He just gotta put his hands straight up in that position because there's nothing else you can do. You don't do that, Deron is gonna get those superstar calls.

Deron didn't draw fouls by blowing past Morris, specifically on one play where Williams took it coast-to-coast, with Morris stupidly attempting to stay attached to his hip for 94 feet?